MLB: KC Royals beat Angels 9-5 with 7-run 3rd inning

By Joe Resnick
Associated Press

Published: Thursday, May 16 2013 12:00 a.m. MDT

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run double and Billy Butler capped his most productive series of the season with a two-run single, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.

Wade Davis (3-3) was charged with four runs and nine hits over 5 1-3 innings in the rubber game of the series.

Butler, who entered this series in a 4 for 35 rut, went 8 for 13 with a homer and nine RBIs — as many as he had in 103 at-bats over his previous 25 games. He was the top designated hitter in the league last season and won his first Silver Slugger Award with a .313 average. 29 homers and 107 RBIs.

Barry Enright (0-2) gave up four runs, five hits and two walks in two-plus innings, leaving with the bases loaded and none out in the Royals' seven-run third.

The right-hander threw 47 pitches before he was replaced by Mark Lowe, who gave up Butler's two-run single, followed by a walk to Eric Hosmer and Cain's bases-clearing double into the left field corner.

Cain scored on a passed ball by Chris Iannetta after advancing on an infield hit by Elliot Johnson, and Jarrod Dyson capped the rally with an RBI triple to right-center. It was the Royals' most productive inning since Aug. 20, 2011, when they plated eight runs in the sixth.

The Angels started chipping away with an RBI single Albert Pujols in the bottom of the third and a run-scoring single by Iannetta in the fourth, trimming the deficit to 8-2. They loaded the bases later that inning, but Davis retired Erick Aybar on an inning-ending double-play grounder after walking No.9 hitter J.B. Shuck.

The Halos got to the Royals' bullpen in the sixth and sliced Kansas City's lead to 8-4 with Alberto Callaspo's sacrifice fly and Aaron Crow's bases-loaded walk to Mike Trout. But Pujols followed with a rally-killing groundout to third base. The Angels ended up stranding 11 baserunners.

Trout made the final outcome a little more respectable with his eighth home run, a solo shot to center field in the eighth against hard-throwing right-hander Kelvin Herrera. Dyson scaled the thinly-padded fence on a ball he had no chance to catch and sprained his right ankle, forcing him out of the game.

Mike Moustakas doubled with two out in the Royals' second, ending an 0 for 18 drought going back to his home run off the Yankees' Phil Hughes last Friday. Salvador Perez drove him in with a ground-rule double into the right field corner that barely eluded Josh Hamilton's diving attempt.

NOTES: Angels manager Mike Scioscia commented before the game on remarks owner Arte Moreno made earlier on Wednesday to FOXSports.com at the owners' meetings in New York that his job was not in jeopardy despite the team's 15-25 record and 11-game deficit in the AL West behind Texas. "Arte has always been very supportive," said Scioscia, whose contract runs through the 2018 season. "Arte knows how hard I take the non-performance of this team and how we need to get there. It hits me as hard as it hits Arte ... and I know Arte realizes that. Going on 14 years, this isn't the first time you deal with this kind of chatter. But it certainly doesn't affect what we need to do on a day-to-day basis with our team, and that's what we're going to focus on." ... Fred White, who broadcast Royals games on radio for 25 seasons beginning in 1973 and remained with the organization in several capacities, died Wednesday in a hospice at age 76 due to complications from melanoma — just one day after the club announced his retirement as director of broadcast services and the Royals Alumni. White was behind the mike at the "Big A" on Sept. 30, 1992, when George Brett got his 3,000th hit.